4-lights to be auctioned in August

Want a vacation home, but it won't be cheap, cheap to fix up that is:

Four 4 Lighthouses to be auctioned in August

Hope the Coast Guard calls before they come by to maintain their light/equipment.

Joyce

Interesting, Joyce. I was going to root for my lottery tickets but these are not residences. Hopefully some local groups will buy them - cheaply and use the saving to stabilize them. Go news on Coast Guard maintaing as 'Aid to Navigation'. Likely means they won't destroy them if they don't sell.
Bob

This is really too bad. But I think the problem was that all four are in the Chesapeake Bay. There aren't enough groups to take them all. CCUSLHS already will have their hands full with Thomas Point. These lights don't have any groups.

Hopefully, whoever takes the lights over will care about them. I guess we can figure that they are safe from destruction for the most part - what could be done on the caissons?

It's too bad that they weren't taken over by a non-profit. But you never know...maybe some rich philanthropist will pick it up and try to open it to the public. Who knows if someone was interested in the light, but didn't have the qualifications?

Of these lights, Middle Ground is the most readily accessible I believe. It looks like it will end up in the hands of someone who probably wants it to use for advertising purposes. Hopefully the CG will keep a close watch and enforce the historic preservation requirements.

Greg, They have torn lights down from the top of caissons and left the caisson in place.

Cold Spring Harbor

These are photos I took in 2002, on a OBLHS/Chesapeake joint cruise...

Newport News Middle Ground


Thimble Shoals

You can see those dangling ladders on both.

NNMG sits right beside the Monitor-Merimac bridge/tunnel. The USCG replaced the white light with a red one in 2000 because it was lost in all the lights on the bridge. That ended the confusion. Even if someday this lh is taken down, there will always be an Aid to Navigation at this spot because it's marking the very dangerous Middleground shoal.

Thimble Shoals sets at the entrance to busy Hampton Roads, also marking a dangerous shoal. It can be seen from the boardwalk at Fort Monroe.

Judy

That's what was done at Sabine Bank, they just erected a Skeletal Tower on the foundation.
http://www.lhdigest.com/database/dataphotopage4.cfm?value=4271&LID=281

Alright, alright. Proven wrong again.

Yes, we do, and we are also contemplating the possibility of applying for Sandy Point, so our hands really will be "FULL".

Joyce

I checked the GSA website today and no mention of lighthouse sale yet. Was interested in what the appraisal would be. Yes, its waterfront property, but very small building and let's face it we could be stuck for days if bad weather rolls in and I don't think you can get pizza delivered.

All four lights on now on the GSA site. Bid increments are $5,000. The deposit (to bid) is also $5,000. But, you can do the bids over the internet (once you are registered and put in your down payment) and they do take Visa and Mastercard. Bidding starts Monday, August 22 and will go on for at least several weeks. All 4 are on the historic register. No public utilities. All in all 16 pages of information, mostly disclosure stuff.

Yesterday was the first day of auction and no bids so far.